Franklin attorney ready to lead family court

Franklin lawyer Andy Roesener has prosecuted bad guys, written laws for the General Assembly and has worked as a private attorney, but next year he'll take on a new challenge as the magistrate in charge of Johnson County's juvenile and family court.

Roesener, 47, was appointed to replace Marla Clark, who won the Republican nomination for judge of the new Superior Court 4. She is running unopposed in November. Roesener will take the bench in 2015.

Roesener has been a deputy prosecutor in Marion and Johnson counties, where he won convictions against violent criminals and sex offenders. He also spent a couple years working for the Legislative Services Agency, where he drafted some of the bills debated in the Indiana House and Senate. As a private attorney for about 10 years, Roesener has represented criminal defendants, juveniles and has worked in administrative and family law.

He and wife Asha have two daughters, Mary, 12, and Lucy, 10.

Family law, he said, is complicated and challenging. When a family comes into a courtroom there are often many problems that need to be addressed.

A juvenile court judge, he said, must work with probation officers, counselors, school officials and others to find ways to address substance abuse and other problems that so often break down a family.

"Often times a family is not facing a single issue, but multiple issues at the same time," Roesenser said. "All the stakeholders in the legal system need to identify all issues facing a family so that suitable and attainable goals for the family can be provided to them."

We asked Roesener to talk about the problems facing Johnson County families, new sentencing guidelines and to tell us how he plans to help.

Question: What is the biggest issue facing families in Johnson County today?

Answer: In the context of the legal system, I feel substance abuse is certainly a prevalent and recurring issue. Abuse of alcohol and drugs (including the abuse of prescription drugs) can have a ripple effect that can cause immediate and extreme hardship within the nuclear family, but also ongoing effects for multiple generations.

Q: How can the juvenile court can steer kids away from crime and bad behavior?

A: Perhaps the most important key to deterring future delinquent behavior in young people who come before the court is understanding the cause or causes of the behavior at an early stage. If the court is not able to discern the reasons for the delinquent behavior, the chances to correct it are negligible. The best way to steer kids away from future crime is to understand why they are currently committing juvenile acts and respond with programs and services.

Q: Indiana recently adopted a form of blended sentencing that gives judges more flexibility sentencing violent offenders age 15 and younger. How are these new rules changing juvenile justice in the state?

A: The decision to move a young person out of the juvenile system is perhaps one of the most important decisions facing a juvenile magistrate. Blended sentencing provides a court with increased sentencing options for young persons who commit serious felonies, most notably the ability to avoid placing a young person in an adult prison setting. Almost without exception a judge benefits from increased flexibility in determining what sentence is appropriate. A blended sentence allows the sentencing court to review the sentence prior to the juvenile's 19th birthday to determine if the sentence should be revised. This structure allows the court to consider the dual responsibilities of protecting the community while also addressing the special needs of juvenile offenders.

Q: How should society balance the need to punish a young person's bad behavior versus the desire for rehabilitation?

A: My role is to listen to evidence in each case and try and understand why a juvenile committed a delinquent act and what the risk is of the juvenile committing future juvenile or criminal acts. The important work of sitting as a judge is to decide whether rehabilitation, punishment, or a mix of both is appropriate for a particular case.

Q: What do you do for fun?

A: Both of my girls are active in sports, so much of my free time is spent watching their games. When time permits I have a group of good friends I enjoy running with and I enjoy reading both fiction and non-fiction.